The horizontal line represents the person’s life.1636 - born1663 - “Traité de I'exposiiioii. du Saint Sacrement de PAutel”1703 - died

Thiers, JohnBaptist

, a learned doctor of the Sorbonne, and a celebrated writer of the seventeenth century,
was born at Chartres, about 1636. He professed belleslettres at Paris, and became curate of Vibray, in the diocese of Mans, where he composed several of his works,
and where he died February 28, 1703, aged sixty-five. He
left a great many works, which are tiow but seldom read,
though they are very learned, and very often singular.

“The History of Perukes” is one of his most known
and curious books. He designed it againat those ecclesiastics who were not contented to wear their own hair.
The year 1621) (says he) is the epoch of perukes in France.
He maintains, that no clergyman wore a peruke before
1660, and pretends that there is no instance of it in antiquity. He observes, that cardinal de Richelieu was the
first who wore a calot and that the bishop of Evreux having prefixed to the life of St. Francis de Sales (which he presented to pope AlexanderVIII.) a print wherein that
saint appeared with a leather cap on, the pope had much
ado to accept that book, attended with such an irregularity.
M. Thiers exclaims against those ecclesiastics, who powder
their perukes, and wear them of a different colour from
their own hair. He answers the arguments that may be
alledged in favour of the clergy. As for what concerns
their beard and their bands, he says, no ecclesiastic wore
a band before the middle of last century. There have
been many variations about their beard. Sometimes shaving was looked upon as a kind of effeminacy, and a long
beard appeared very suitable with the sacerdotal gravity;
and sometimes a venerable beard was accounted a piece of
pride and stateliness. When cardinal d’Angennes was about
to take possession of his bishopric of Mans in 1556, he
wanted an express order from the king to be admitted with
his long beard, which he could not resolve to cut. M.
Thiers acknowledges those variations about the beard; but
he maintains that the discipline has been constant and uniform as to perukes; and therefore, he says, they ought to
be laid aside, and beseeches the pope and the king to suppress such a novelty.
| Among his other works are, 2. “Traité des Superstitions
qui regardent les Sacremena,” 4 vols. 12mo, a book esteemed
agreeable and useful by those of his own communion. 3.
“Traité de I’exposiiioii. du Saint Sacrement de PAutel,”
1663, 12mo. Some have esteemed this his best production. Many other articles are enumerated by his biographers, but few of them interesting in this country. 1

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